Our team

Gerd Götz has been Director General of European Aluminium since 2013. Gerd has held different managing roles in public affairs, corporate communications and brand management in Berlin, Hamburg, Brussels and Amsterdam. He was most recently Vice President and Global Head of Public Affairs with Royal Philips. A German national, he studied Business Administration and Economics in Berlin and Paris-Dauphine, and earned his Ph.D. from Berlin’s Free University. 

Matthias Bolza-Schünemann joined European Aluminium in September 2020 as a Trainee in Building & Sustainability. With a background in Mechanical Engineering, Matthias took a double Master’s degree programme in Energy Engineering and Management at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the Instituto Superior Técnico (Lisbon). Prior to joining he concluded his degree with a Thesis on Sustainable Building Concepts.

Laura Brunello joined European Aluminium in July 2020 as Membership & Administration Trainee. Prior to that, she pursued an internship at the Netherlands-African Business Council in The Hague and helped organise numerous trade mission to and from African countries. Laura holds a Master degree in International Environmental Law and a Bachelor’s degree in geography from the University of Nottingham, UK.

Diana Coseano joined European Aluminium as Office Manager/Personal Assistant to the Director General in August 2018. Prior to joining, she worked more than 6 years as Administrative & Human Resources Manager for an international NGO in Brussels and 2 years in Italy as researcher. She holds a Master’s Degree in International and Diplomatic Relations from University of Trieste (Italy).

Chiara Deffendi joined European Aluminium on July 2018. She is the Coordinator of the Innovation Hub. She holds a Master’s Degree in Local and Global Development and a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations and Diplomatic Affairs from the University of Bologna.

Bernard Gilmont joined European Aluminium in March 2000 as Mass Transportation Manager and since them became Director Engineered Products also covering automotive, building and standards. Prior to joining, he spent 6 years in various manager positions in the oil industry for Petrofina-Total. He holds a degree on Mechanical Engineering from the Ecole Polytechnique de Louvain, a degree on Energy & Oil Products Engineering from the IFP-School (Paris) and an Executive Master in Management from Solvay Business School (Brussels).

George Karkampasis joined European Aluminium in 2020 as Circular Economy & Recycling Manager. Prior to joining, he worked as a Sustainability Manager for Cefic. George holds a Master’s degree in EU Studies from the Katholieke Universiteit of Leuven.

Maryna Khymenets joined European Aluminium in September 2020 as Data Analyst. Prior to joining, she worked for two years as a financial auditor at Deloitte in Brussels. Maryna holds a Master’s degree in Business Economics from Solvay Brussels School of Economics & Management.

Mélina Kotsaridis joined European Aluminium in October 2016. She is the Officer in Public Affairs & Communications. She holds a Master’s degree in Management, Consultancy & Public Administration and a Bachelor degree in Political Science from ULB (Université Libre de Bruxelles). 

Maarten Labberton joined European Aluminium back in 1993. He has been in charge of various functions within our association before becoming Director Packaging Group in 2005. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of Metal Packaging Europe and a member of the European Steering Committee of ‘Every Can Counts’. Maarten holds a Master of Law from the University of Utrecht (Netherlands) and a certificate in European Law from the University of Leuven (Belgium).

Bob Lambrechts joined European Aluminium in January 2000 and is responsible for statistics, market intelligence, and trade dossiers. He previously worked for a Belgian federation of temporary work businesses, and executive search, and for the Center of Economic studies of the University in Leuven. He holds a Master of Economic sciences, and a doctorandus degree of Econometric science and development economics from the University in Leuven (KUL).  

Coline Lavorel joined European Aluminium in 2012 as Manager Public Affairs and Sustainability. She has experience in journalism and was assistant to a Member of the European Parliament before working for six years in a public affairs consultancy in Brussels. She holds a Master’s degree in EU policies from Robert Schuman University, Strasbourg.

Christian Leroy joined European Aluminium in January 2014 as Consultant in charge of Innovation and Life Cycle Assessment. Previously, as full-time employee of European Aluminium since 1999, he was in charge of various functions covering education, technology and environmental fields. He holds a Ph.D. and Master degree in Process Engineering from the Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve (UCL).

Benjamin joined European Aluminium in February 2020 as Trainee for Pubic Affairs and Communications. He holds a Master’s degree in International Public Affairs from the University of Montreal and a European Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the Catholic University of Lille.

Emanuele joined European Aluminium in June 2019 as Manager for EU Public Affairs. He is accustomed to interacting with wider stakeholders, including media, business and government representatives, having previously worked in Brussels at Weber Shandwick, a global public affairs and communications agency and DODs EU Monitoring. All in all, he has more than five years of experience in supporting multinationals and associations in developing advocacy campaigns towards the EU institutions and providing strategic advice on complex EU policy and regulatory matters, with a  focus on energy, climate and circular economy policies. He also worked on Policy Coordination within the Secretariat General of the European Commission. Emanuele holds a Master’s degree in European Political and Administrative Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges and in International Relations from the University of Genoa, Italy. In addition to his native Italian, Emanuele speaks fluent English and French.

Sounia Mourabit joined European Aluminium in May 2017 as Trade Manager. Prior to joining, she spent six years as an associate at an international law firm, specialised in trade law. Early in her career, she held positions at the European Parliament and at the United Nations. She holds a Master’s degree in law from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (2007) and a LLM from Harvard Law School (2008).

Eirik Nordheim is a consultant to European Aluminium and manager of the Aluminium REACH Consortium. He worked 18 years as EHS Director for European Aluminium, 17 years as Managing Director of Nordic Aluminium Industry’s Secretariat for EHS, 3 years as Senior Process Engineer for Phillips Petroleum and 5 years as Process Engineer for Elkem Aluminium Mosjøen. He holds a B.Sc (Hon) in Chemical Engineering from Strathclyde University.

Benedetta Nucci joined European Aluminium in January 2018 as Environmental Manager, Building & Mobility. Prior to joining she worked in Italy as consultant on Life Cycle Assessment and Environmental Footprinting and one year as policy officer in DG Environment, European Commission, in the Environmental Footprint team. She holds a Ph.D. in “Management: innovation, sustainability and healthcare” from Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies (Pisa, Italy) and a master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pisa (Italy).

Patrik Ragnarsson joined European Aluminium in 2010. He is now a Senior Manager for the Automotive & Transport group. Prior to joining, he worked with Vehicle Acoustics as a research fellow at KU Leuven. He holds a Master of Science in Vehicle Engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm Sweden (KTH).

Djibril René joined us in 2012 as Senior Manager Sustainability & Economic Data. Prior to joining, he worked 3 years as a consultant in Paris and Brussels on environmental footprint and waste management. He holds a master of engineering in agronomy from ENSAIA (Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Agronomie et des Industries Alimentaires) and a Master of Business Administration from the IAE (Institut d’Administration des Entreprises) Nancy.

Kelly Roegies joined European Aluminium in August 2017 as Manager Communications. Prior to joining, she worked as a Strategic Communications Manager for a non-profit organisation and a Virtual Reality start-up company. She has also worked as a Senior Corporate Communications Consultant for FTI Consulting, a market-leading global business advisory firm. She holds a Bachelor degree in Communication, Criticism and Curation from Central Saint Martins (UAL) and a Master’s degree in History of Art from the University of Oxford. 

Guido Sabatini joined European Aluminium in 2018 as Technical Manager Building Market Group & Standards. He previously dealt with standardisation issues within the Sustainable Construction Unit at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry (now DG Growth) and at the European Builders Confederation. He studied Environmental Engineering at both the University of Florence (Italy) and Lund University (Sweden).

Sandro Starita joined European Aluminium in 2008 and holds his current position since 2013. In the past he worked in the technical department of the Italian steel association, after dealing with the evaluation of industrial research projects, safety in the workplace and remediation of polluted sites. He holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from Politecnico di Milano (Italy), and an Executive MBA degree at MIP, the Business School of the Politecnico di Milano.

David Van Heuverswyn joined European Aluminium in March 2008, initially working on Public Affairs, Communications & Packaging related issues. In 2015 he became Coordinator Packaging Group. He was recently promoted to Manager Packaging Group and appointed as Director Every Can Counts (ECC) Europe. With this additional responsibility David coordinates the local ECC initiatives and ensures continuous alignment and improvements across all programmes to maximise the agreed goals of this joint initiative between can makers and packaging group members. Before joining us, he spent 7 years translating scientific literature and invention patents from English and Spanish to French. David holds a European Master’s degree in Multidisciplinary Translation from the Institute of Translators and Interpreters (ISTI) in Brussels.

Nijole Zaniauskaite joined European Aluminium in June 2018 as Assistant Recycling, EHS & Sustainability. Prior to joining she worked as Event Organiser for the international consulting company in Brussels and has an experience in administrative support, coordination of public relations and international affairs. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communications and Information Management from Vilnius University.